Frame Off Built Steel Ford Coupe 302 4 Barrel with A/C

Cooking up a successful street rod is an easy recipe that's tough to get right. In the case of this mouthwatering 1946 Ford Club Coupe the ingredients are: one part super clean rust-free body, one part high quality custom interior, two servings of highly detailed chassis and a pinch of Ford 302 V8. When you stir all that together you get one nicely built and fully developed cruiser that's a pleasure to drive on the open road. So pull up a chair, dig in and see why this brilliant custom demonstrates that “Fat Fender Fords” come in all different flavors!

As with most automakers Ford's 1946 offerings were facelifts of old pre-war models. But they sold well to a public with more than four years of pent-up demand; and Ford's Club Coupe, which featured a full-size back seat and rounded styling that still looks great today, was one of the market's hottest sellers. Prepped and finished to an extremely high standard this Club Coupe offers a host of traditional hot-rodding tricks including molded-in rear fenders, frenched headlights, flush-mounted tail lights, and shaved door handles. Of course none of that detracts from the car's ultra-straight sheetmetal which, as the construction photos show, was solid to begin with. When you see it in person, you'll be digging all sorts of little subtleties, just as we do. And naturally the finish is two-stage urethane that emphasizes the body's original shape thanks to multi-colored graphics.

Modifications weren't just limited to the body and paint either. Dig those slender bumpers and fillers, which surely took hours and hours to fabricate. There's also a subtle upgrade to the grille, which was formerly 100% chrome. In back, slender bumperettes frame a recessed license plate. All the glass was tinted, adding to the modernized feel while providing a lift for the A/C inside. And the entire body is covered in stylish pinstriping that matches the car's personality extremely well.

Dyed in the blue Ford fans will be thrilled to find a vintage 302 cubic inch Ford V8 under the hood; and finally there's a hot rod with the distributor up front where it belongs! The engine's professionally detailed bay contrasts well with the car's bright exterior paint, perfectly tying into its impressive graphics and pinstripes. In fact it's hard to talk about the detailing of the engine bay without addressing the entire chassis, which is bathed in matching lavender paint from front to back. Of course, appropriate amounts of polished aluminum and chrome dress it up, from the Ford Motorsport air cleaner to the finned cast aluminum valve covers that have been dressed to match. It's obvious that someone invested a good amount of time making sure every hose and wire was neatly tucked out of sight as much as possible, including those for a powerful A/C system. And with details like a smooth firewall and a color- matched power brake booster, you'll be anxious to park and get the hood open at any show you attend.

As I mentioned this Ford's chassis, which is painted to match its outrageous exterior paint, is just as well detailed as the aforementioned engine bay. The original frame was retained, although the front section was modified with frame stubs from a Chevy Nova, and it includes an independent front end, disc brakes, and modern power steering. The transmission is Ford's own C4 3-speed automatic, spinning a rugged nine inch rear end that's stuffed with easy-cruising 3.00 gears. And every square inch of the chassis just pops against the car's satin black underbody. A custom dual exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers was fabricated to tuck up close to the floor and out of sight, terminating in a set of slant-cut tips that are vaguely reminiscent of a Mustang 5.0. Four wheel power disc brakes are a nice surprise, giving this vintage Ford modern stopping power that will inspire confidence on the road. And billet wheels from American Racing fill the car's fat wells to the brim with 195/65/15 BF Goodrich Traction T/A radials up front and 235/70/15 Cooper Discoverer H/T radials out back.

Tan tweed is the dominant theme inside, and for a long-distance cruiser, you'll probably find that this car's cloth is a lot more comfortable than leather because it breathes better. The custom work is extensive and the detailing is very well done. The front buckets are obviously out of a late-model vehicle and offer plenty of adjustment so that just about anyone can get comfortable behind the wheel. Scallops adorn the door panels and headliner, lending the interior a symmetry that suggests someone spent a lot of time in the planning stage. The rear seat has been upholstered to match with a folding center armrest, making this a true 5-passenger car. The original dash has been filled and modified to accept a complete array of VDO white-faced gauges, and eyeball vents have been professionally integrated into the design. A separate panel has been fitted below the main dash to hold secondary controls for the HVAC system and a powerful Sony AM/FM/CD stereo system that has speakers scattered throughout the interior. Other thoughtful upgrades include seat and shoulder belts, a bunch of OEM-style courtesy lights, and a vintage Ford style “spoon” accelerator pedal. And in back, the trunk has been fully upholstered to match, with removable panels hiding the car's battery.

This sale of this Ford includes a stack of build photos as well as a stack of receipts for all the components that went into its construction.

If there's one thing we've learned in all our years of doing business as both a dealer and as a custom car builder, it's that you ALWAYS come out cheaper buying a car as opposed to building one. This unique Ford has been extremely well built, and our hats are off to the builder for keeping it Ford powered. The prep work is done, all the right ingredients have been added and the table is set. All that's left to do is indulge!